Latest news with #StephanieTubman
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Minneapolis car recovery group helps a single mom find her stolen vehicle
The Brief A neighborhood recovery car service in Minneapolis helps find a reported stolen vehicle for a single mom. The single mom had her 2016 Hyundai two days after paying $6,000 in cash for it. A tip led to the location of the stolen vehicle. MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A neighborhood recovery car service in Minneapolis finds a reported stolen vehicle for a single mom. She purchased a used 2016 Hyundai Elantra, and it was stolen two days later. What we know Stephanie Tubman didn't even get a chance to put on the license plate of her 2016 Hyundai Elantra before it was stolen the first weekend in May. So she contacted the company TC Nighthawks. From there, they got to work using a variety of platforms, from drone pilots to street recovery teams. What they're saying It wasn't until they put an ad out for a $500 reward for a tip leading to the reported stolen vehicle. The first two leads were a dead-end, but the third one led them to it. "We got a tip, and it sounded like a good one. I sent a spotter out there. The spotter confirmed it was the vehicle. And at that point, we started working with the Minneapolis Police, and we got the victim over there," said Lacey Gauthier, the founder of TC Nighthawks. "That was everything I had. That was literally everything I had to try to get this car so I could have something reliable to drive, probably go to two of my jobs and go to college and take care of my kids," said Stephanie Tubman, who had her vehicle stolen. Minneapolis police say the vehicle was located at 37th Avenue North and Humbolt Avenue North on Mother's Day. The steering column and ignition of the vehicle were damaged. TC Nighthawks helps to find cars all around the nation, recovering 31 cars so far.
CBS News
09-05-2025
- CBS News
Single mother's car stolen in Minneapolis 2 days after she bought it
Earlier this week, WCCO brought you video of kids in a stolen Kia driving dangerously down a city street. A single mother of two is one of the latest victims of these stolen car crimes. She says her Hyundai was gone just two days after getting the keys. "I paid $6,000 cash for a vehicle," Stephanie Tubman of Minneapolis said. Stephanie Tubman It was all smiles when Tubman bought her 2016 Hyundai Elantra, but that smile didn't last long. "I paid that on Friday and on Sunday, it got stolen," she said. "That was a lot to me. That's a lot of money for me. It's going to take me a lot time to rebuild that." Tubman is a single mother of three boys, as well as a student who works two jobs. All after turning her life around post-prison. She had this message for the thieves: "I've more than likely been where they are at some point or another ... I get the survival mode, the need to feel like you have to take stuff." But she's crawled her way out of survival mode. And her sons Austin, Sean and Ethan say their mom works hard. "Within a weekend that all kind of went away," Minneapolis crime data shows Tubman's car is one of nearly 1,700 stolen so far this year, which is actually down from 2024. But Hyundais and Kias are still the most common target. A stolen Kia was spotted tearing through Uptown just this week. "What people saw in that video is nothing new, that's been going on the last few years, especially in north Minneapolis," Police Chief Brian O'Hara said. It's a troubling trend that law enforcement is still working to pump the brakes on. "There needs to be consequence for this behavior, that's the bottom line," O'Hara said. It's also fueling frustration for Tubman on this Mother's Day weekend. "I'm just telling myself it's just money, a car, all that matters is that those boys in there love me, forgive me and they do," she said.
